A few months ago, we were all captivated with the story of the Thai soccer team who were trapped in a cave. We all waited with baited breath for them to be rescued safely — and then they were!

That same team appeared on The Ellen Show on Monday, and as a special surprise they got to meet their hero: Soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimović.

The 12 boys and their coach looked healthy and happy as they wore their team jerseys and discussed their rescue with Ellen.

It was a scary time: Cave diving experts evacuated the team members one-by-one through the submerged cave system. But it had a happy ending!

But that wasn’t the end of the story. Ellen had a special surprise waiting for the boys: their hero, Zlatan Ibrahimović, who Ellen had waiting backstage. He came out and high fived all the players and commented on their incredible bravery in the face of danger.

A winning team

“I thought I was brave, but these kids, this team, is more braver than me … This is probably the best team in the world,” he said.

DeGeneres pointed out several of the boys had missed their birthdays while stuck in the cave and as a present the team were given passes to see Ibrahimovic play in his next game with the LA Galaxy football club.

What an amazing gift for such an amazing group of boys.